Defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies took the provisional pole position for the Honda Supercycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tires with a new lap record time during qualifying Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Spies lapped the 2.4-mile, 15-turn course in 1:24.222 on his Dunlop-shod Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, far quicker than the previous lap record, a 1:24.917, which Spies set during qualifying in August of 2006. In fact, many of Spies’ laps Friday afternoon were under the old lap record. And he did it all after destroying one of his bikes in a crash Friday morning. “Everything went pretty good in the session,” said Spies, who has earned six out of seven poles so far in 2007. “We started out on some old tires, tried to put as many laps as we could on ’em and got going a little better than I thought we were on those. I saw the race set-up was good, came in and put new tires on, and I tried to put a little bit of a lap together. The bike’s working really good right now. We’ve just got to keep going. Every time we’re making improvements with the bike, and I’m working on my bad areas of the track. And as long as we keep doing that it should be pretty good.” During the 35-minute session, Spies traded the top spot several times with his teammate and Championship rival Mat Mladin, who ended up with the second-best lap, 1:24.493 on his Suzuki. Third through fifth in the provisional qualifying order were separated by a scant 0.05 second, and all there were close to the old lap record. After finishing on the podium at Laguna Seca, Aaron Yates carried his momentum into Mid-Ohio and turned a third-fastest 1:25.030 on his Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000. Jamie Hacking continued his mid-season turnaround by qualifying his Monster Energy Kawasaki ZX-10R fourth Friday with a 1:25.078. Improvement to his injured shoulder (it was separated in a crash at Miller Motorsports Park) allowed Eric Bostrom to post the fifth-best time, a 1:25.084, on his factory Yamaha YZF-R1. American Honda’s Jake Zemke was just a tick behind with a 1:25.262 on his CBR1000RR, while his teammate Miguel Duhamel bounced back from a minor crash Friday morning to record the seventh-quickest time, 1:25.617. Rounding out the top 10 were Hacking’s teammate Roger Hayden (1:25.672), Bostrom’s teammate Jason DiSalvo (1:25.799) and Corona Extra Honda’s James Ellison (1:26.107). Two-time former AMA Supersport Champion Tommy Hayden continued to struggle to get comfortable on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike Friday and qualified 15th with a time of 1:26.963. 2007 AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 3, 2007 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.222 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.493 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:25.030 4. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:25.078 5. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:25.084 6. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:25.262 7. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:25.617 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:25.672 9. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:25.799 10. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.107 11. Matt Lynn (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:26.179 12. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:26.336* 13. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:26.453* 14. Luca Scassa (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:26.715 15. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:26.963 16. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:27.825* 17. Ben Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:27.944 18. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:29.215 19. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.652 20. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:29.792* 21. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:30.252 22. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:30.841 23. James Kerker (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:30.871 24. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.895 25. Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.133 26. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.863 27. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, no times